DC On TV: THE FLASH And GOTHAM Become Worth Watching

I had no interest in watching the new television version of DC’s The Flash, or the Batman prequel series (not featuring Batman), Gotham. That all changed a few days ago when the casting go pretty cool.

First-up, it has been announced that John Wesley Shipp, the star of the great (but short-lived) ‘90s series, The Flash has joined the pilot (and potentially the show). Shipp’s portrayal of The Flash and his alter ego Barry Allen was spot-on in the show, which was inspired by Tim Burton’s Batman (it even had a Danny Elfman theme). It’s great to see him join this new incarnation which stars Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. Like I said before, I had no interest in this before , but I’ll be tuning-in for the pilot – and potentially the show – if they don’t mess it up. It’s a spin-off from Arrow, a show which I’ve never caught, but if the quality is there – anything is possible.

As someone with a life-long interest in Batman, I was seriously uninterested in the Gotham. Danny Canon (CSI, Judge Dredd) is calling the shots on the pilot of the show, which follows the citizens (and criminals) of Gotham before the introduction of The Batman. Sure, the concept isn’t bad, but I’m always sceptical of any prequel action and a US FOX channel launch doesn’t inspire confidence (cable would be another thing entirely). Anyway – the great news is, is that the always watchable Sean Pertwee has been cast as a young Alfred Pennyworth (played by Michael Gough in the Burton/Schumacher movies, Michael Caine in the Nolan movies and now Jeremy Irons in Batman/Superman). Pertwee raises the quality of anything he’s in, so I’ll be giving this one a shot too – even if The OC’s Ben McKenzie is playing a young Commissioner Gordon.

This is interesting casting for the DC universe on television. Let’s hope that the quality is there.